BROOKLYN – Kurt Busch continues to prove this season that he is a much better underdog than any other role that he has played throughout his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, and that includes champion and villain.

Busch’s name pops up every time Sprint Cup’s silly season cranks up. Just last week when Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing officials announced that Juan Pablo Montoya wasn’t going to return to the team next season, anyone with an opinion began floating the suggestion that Busch would be an ideal candidate to take the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet.

You know that single-car, Furniture Row team that Busch has been racing for all season? The one that should be road kill for the multi-car, super teams like Rick Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing?

The best move Busch could make at this point in his career, though, would be no move at all.

It’s proving to be a perfect fit for Busch in his efforts to rebuild his career, and it was evident once again during Sunday afternoon’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Busch had the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet up front early in the race and he was in contention late.

Busch eventually finished third behind winner Joey Logano and runner-up Kevin Harvick. But the good news for the controversial former Cup champion is that he is now ninth in the point standings with three races to go before the Chase starts.

“This is tremendous,” Busch said in Sunday afternoon’s post-race press conference. “Jumping in with the Furniture Row guys last year, running six races together, got a lot of the bugs worked out. It allowed us to discover things about ourselves, some weaknesses on the team. Each section through this season, like every six races, we can lump them together and say that we’ve improved every time we’ve gone through a chunk of six races at a time.

“Now here we are. We’re 23 races in, got three to go to get in the Chase. It’s an amazing feeling to be in this position now. Here’s a group of guys from Denver, Colorado, in the Chase right now. That’s what we have to do, make sure when the door closes, the music stops, that we got a place.”

It’s still a big if whether Busch makes the Chase. He doesn’t have a win, and he will be in big-time trouble if he slips out of the top 10. He is only six points ahead of 11th place Kasey Kahne. Kahne has two wins, and with Martin Truex Jr., Logano and Ryan Newman each having a win apiece and sitting outside the top 10, Busch would be the odd man out for a Wild Card spot if he doesn’t win one of these final three races.

Let’s be honest. Even if Busch gets into the Chase, he would be a longshot at best to win the title. The fact that Busch is in contention for a spot, though, is huge, considering this is a driver whose career some thought was finished when Roger Penske release him after the 2011 season due to his continued outbursts with media and crew.

Let’s be honest one more time. Did anyone really think that he would be in the Chase hunt through the second Michigan race? It’s hard to argue with the suggestion that Busch is this season’s biggest surprise.

“The Furniture Row team is acting like a big-time player right now,” Busch said.

It should…Furniture Row has a big-time driver.

Email Steve Kaminski at skaminsk@mlive.com, friend him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.